Belfast Live reported that a Crown prosecutor said she suffered ‘multiple stab wounds to her cervical region’ as well as to her chest and neck.

She was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital for emergency surgery after suffering collapsed lungs and an injury to her spinal cord, the court was told.

McFarlane, 34, from Glenville Park, Newtonabbey, was the subject of a police manhunt as he went on the run for two days after the attack.

The father-of-three was arrested following a car chase and pleaded guilty to offences including attempting to murder his former partner, damaging her properly, and stealing petrol and driving dangerously when on the run.

McFarlane went on the run for two days before police cornered him (Picture: PhotopressBelfast.co.uk)

The mechanic previously served a sentence for attacking a former girlfriend, the mother of his first child, in November 2017.

Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said the attack was ‘brutal and sustained’, carried out in front of a young child, and continued while the woman was ‘prone and defenceless’.

He said there were ‘undoubtedly issues that need to be addressed’ such as anger management, and said he hoped McFarlane would gain ‘some insight into your offending and address its underlying issues’.

The mechanic, who was banned from driving for 10 years, turned to the woman’s family as he was leaving the dock and said: ‘I want to apologise for what I did, but at the end of the day I got stopped from seeing my children, but I am sorry.’

McFarlane, who stole number plates from other vehicles while on the run to avoid capture and drove at speeds of up to 130mph, was arrested three times in the month before the attack.